Sexual Assault

A Milwaukee man was charged with second-degree assault and sex offense charges after Anne Arundel County police say he sexually assaulted a woman in her Arnold home Wednesday afternoon. Officers responded to the 500 block of Norton Way at about 2:40 p.m. when the woman called police to report she had been assaulted. She told police that a man selling magazine subscriptions asked to use her bathroom and then assaulted her. Police officers in the area arrested Jarvis Lamon Spain, 21, of the 4600 block of N. 37th St. in Milwaukee and charged him with second-degree assault, perverted practice, fourth-degree sex offense and sodomy.

The new superintendent of the Naval Academy said Thursday that the institution is a national leader in confronting sexual assault and sexual harassment among students, and should be helping other schools tackle what he described as a widespread problem. The Naval Academy has drawn national attention for the alleged assault of a female midshipman at a party in Annapolis and the subsequent investigation of three members of the Navy football team. The prosecution came amid a growing public focus on sexual assaults both in the military and on college campuses.

A Baltimore man has been charged in Anne Arundel County with sexual assault in Linthicum last week, police said. Tamango Johnson, 38, of the 1800 block of Bolton St., has been charged with rape, assault, false imprisonment, impersonating a police officer and other sex offense charges, according to a statement Tuesday from the Anne Arundel County Police Department. On the evening of Dec. 27, a woman reported being sexually assaulted at the Microtel Inn and Suites, in the 1100 block of Winterson Road, by a man she arranged to meet in her hotel room, police said.

Et cetera Maryland men's lacrosse attackman Benjamin Chisolm was cleared in a Virginia sexual assault case Thursday after being accused of molesting a woman at a concert, Chisolm's lawyer said. Prosecutors dropped the felony sex assault charge against Chisolm and a judge cleared him of assault after a brief bench trial, according to the attorney. But Chisolm was found guilty of being drunk in public and received a fine and community service. Chisolm and the woman were at a Zac Brown Band concert at the Jiffy Lube Live venue in June and she had fallen asleep.

A teenage girl was kidnapped by four men in Woodlawn, driven to an unfamiliar location and sexually assaulted on Nov. 1, police said. At about 3 p.m. that day, the 15-year-old was walking in the 1800 block of Woodlawn Drive when men in a teal, four-door sedan approached, according to a statement Wednesday from the Baltimore County Police Department. Two of the men were wearing ski masks, police said. One of the unmasked men began talking to the victim, displayed a handgun and then forced her into the car, according to police.

Former Catonsville doctor William Dando will not face trial for sexual assault allegations after agreeing never to practice medicine in Maryland again. Allegany County prosecutors dropped charges against him Tuesday, citing two factors — the "he said, she said" nature of the case and his decision to surrender his medical license. Dando had been scheduled to stand trial Wednesday in an incident in which a 41-year-old patient said he touched her genitals while treating her for an ear infection at an urgent-care center near Cumberland.

Responding to complaints that universities have fallen short in policing sexual assaults on their campuses, the White House announced a series of measures Tuesday intended to pressure college officials to step up efforts. The Obama administration wants universities to conduct "campus climate" surveys beginning next year and to clarify sexual assault policies so that victims know where to turn for help. The government is also creating a website, NotAlone.gov, that it says will help victims file federal complaints and access data on federal investigations.

A 14-year-old Odenton youth is facing attempted rape and other charges, Anne Arundel County police said this week, accusing him of sexually assaulting a female student in a bathroom at Arundel Senior High School, police said. Police said the student was charged Monday as a juvenile with attempted second-degree rape, second-degree sex assault and a second-degree sex offense. He was released to a relative, police said. Last Monday, school officials received an anonymous call alerting them to a possible sexual assault in a bathroom earlier in the day. A female student told police that she knew the student whom she said attacked her. andrea.siegel@baltsun.com

A former Randallstown man was sentenced this week to 40 years in prison for the sexual assault in March 2009 of an employee at an Edgewater restaurant after she got off work, according to court records. Christopher Edward Taylor, 36, of Washington, D.C., was accused of forcing his way into the woman's car at gunpoint at about 11:30 p.m. March 31 after she left work at an Original Steakhouse, assaulting her and making her take him to an ATM to withdraw cash from her bank account.

Anne Arundel County police are searching for three men believed to have dragged a woman to a dark area where she was sexually assaulted by one of them in Odenton. The woman told officers from the Western District that she was searching for her boyfriend in the area of Scott Lane and Saltoun Avenue when she was attacked by the men, police said. Police said the incident occurred about 2:30 a.m. Sept. 11. She was taken to a local hospital, where she was treated and released. Anyone with information is asked to call the sex offense unit at 410-222-3468 or 410-222-3470.

A University of Maryland lacrosse player was cleared in a Virginia sexual assault case Thursday after being accused of molesting a woman at a concert, his lawyer said. Prosecutors dropped a felony sex assault charge against Benjamin Chisolm and a judge cleared him of assault after a brief bench trial, according to the attorney. But Chisolm was found guilty of being drunk in public and received a fine and community service. "Ben Chisolm was never guilty of a sexual assault, he wasn't guilty of assault and that's the end of it," said the attorney, Edward B. MacMahon, Jr. The Prince William's County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office did not respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. Department of Education has opened a formal investigation into the Johns Hopkins University's response to an alleged rape at a fraternity house, the university disclosed Tuesday. A group of students filed a complaint with the department's Office of Civil Rights earlier this year, arguing that the university had violated the Clery Act and Title IX, federal laws that dictate how crimes like sexual assault should be handled by universities and reported to the public. Officials said they were notified of the investigation on Friday.

The city police investigation into the alleged rape of a Morgan State University student earlier this year remains open, contrary to a report by the university last week. The U.S. Department of Education opened an investigation into Morgan's handling of the reported sexual assault late last month amid heightened scrutiny of the way universities nationwide respond when students say they are raped. The federal investigations are nearly always the result of a formal complaint. In the Morgan case, a female student told university officials on March 20 that she had been raped in off-campus student housing three weeks prior by a fellow student.

The U.S. Department of Education has opened an investigation into Morgan State University's handling of a reported sexual assault, as the number of colleges nationwide facing scrutiny for their response to sexual violence allegations grows. The investigation into Morgan State was opened June 26, according to a list made public Wednesday that now includes 66 other colleges nationwide. University spokesman Clint Coleman said the investigation involves the alleged sexual assault of a female student Feb. 28, an incident that she reported to the university on March 20. "We look forward to this investigation, and all we seek is justice," Coleman said.

A freshman Maryland men's lacrosse player was arrested and charged with sexually assaulting a sleeping woman at a Zac Brown Band concert in Virginia on Sunday, police said. Benjamin Chisolm, 19, of Davidsonville, is accused of molesting a 49-year-old woman who had fallen asleep in the lawn area during the concert at Jiffy Lube Live pavilion in Bristow, Va. The woman told police she awoke around 8:30 p.m. to find an unknown man, later identified as Chisolm, lying beside her and touching her inappropriately.

The public service video produced by the Maryland National Guard on sexual assault begins like others. There's footage of troops training in the field. A narrator warns of predators within the ranks. A succession of leaders discusses the impact of assaults on service members and their teams. Then Brig. Gen. Linda Singh comes on the screen. "Speaking from personal experience, and having been sexually molested as a teenager, I sought out what I thought was the right support structure," the commander of the Maryland Army National Guard says.

Dr. William Dando pleaded not guilty and is requesting a jury trial on charges he sexually assaulted a female patient at an urgent care center near Cumberland, according to court records updated Monday. Dando appeared Tuesday in Allegany County Circuit Court and his trial is scheduled for Sept. 13. Neither he nor his attorney, R. Steven Friend of Cumberland, could be reached for comment. Dando was indicted last month on sex offense charges after a 41-year-old woman told police he inappropriately touched her during an unchaperoned pelvic examination at MedExpress Urgent Care Center in LaVale in April.

When the Democrats running for governor met for their second three-way television debate Monday night, charges and countercharges flew - along with allegations of distortion, deception and half-truths. Doug Gansler was especially aggressive, pointing to votes Anthony Brown cast in the General Assembly more than a decade ago to make the case that Brown lacks sympathy for crime victims. Heather Mizeur avoided finger-pointing, but was the target of one of Gansler's more easily debunked - and likely intentionally sarcastic - claims.